France’s reappointed PM Lecornu calls for calm amid political chaos

Reappointed French prime minister Sebastien Lecornu speaks to journalists as he visits a police station in L’Hay-les-Roses, outside Paris (Martin Lelievre, Pool Photo via AP)

France’s newly reappointed prime minister has acknowledged there were not “a lot of candidates” for his job – and that he might not last long in the post given the country’s deep political divides.

Sebastien Lecornu, renamed by President Emmanuel Macron late on Friday after a week of political chaos, called for calm and for the support of political parties to produce a budget for the European Union’s number two economy before looming deadlines.

His appointment is seen as Mr Macron’s last chance to reinvigorate his second term, which runs until 2027.

Mr Macron’s centrist camp lacks a majority in the National Assembly and he is facing increasing criticism even within its ranks.

But rivals from far-right to far-left criticised Mr Macron’s decision to rename Mr Lecornu, France’s fourth prime minister in barely a year.

France is struggling with mounting economic challenges and ballooning debt, and the political crisis is aggravating its troubles and raising alarm across the European Union.

“I don’t think there were a lot of candidates,” Mr Lecornu told reporters on Saturday during a visit to a police station in the Paris suburb of L’Hay-les-Roses.

Mr Lecornu, who resigned on Monday after just a month on the job, said he agreed to come back because of the urgent need to find financial solutions for France.

But he said he would only stay as long as “conditions are met”, and seemed to acknowledge the risk that he could be brought down in a no-confidence vote by the fractured parliament.

Reappointed French prime minister Sebastien Lecornu shakes hands with policemen as he visits a police station in L’Hay-les-Roses, outside Paris (Martin Lelievre, Pool Photo via AP)

“Either political forces help me and we accompany each other… or they won’t,” Mr Lecornu said.

He would not say when he expects to form a new government or who could be in it, but has said it would not include anyone angling for the 2027 presidential election.

Mr Lecornu did not address opposition demands to scrap a contentious law raising the retirement age.

Over the past year, Mr Macron’s successive minority governments have collapsed in quick succession, leaving France mired in political paralysis as it faces a debt crisis that has worried markets and EU partners, and a growing poverty rate.